That Girl is Poison

by Milly Taiden

  “Might want to slow down. I think that’s a cop up there,” Mara warned.

  “Shit, you’re right.” Raveena tapped the brakes to slow her speed. The cop didn’t immediately pull out when they passed. “I think we’re good.”

  After a few minutes, Mara startled by the sound of sirens behind them. Blue flashing lights approached from behind, closing the distance fast. That wasn’t what she needed.

  “Maybe he’s on his way to a call,” Mara suggested.

  Raveena eased off the road, hoping the cop would pass them. It became apparent they were his target when he slowed and pulled up behind them.

  “Man, shit.” Raveena hit her steering wheel. “Ryder is going to give me hell if I get another speeding ticket.” She sighed and hung her head. “Will you hand me the registration and insurance card out of the glove box?”

  “Sure.”

  Mara glanced in the rearview mirror when the Officer stepped out of his car. The brim of his hat rode low enough to cover his eyes. Mara opened the glove box and pulled out the papers Raveena needed. Raveena lowered her window before the Officer stepped up to the car.

  “What seems to be the problem, Officer? I don’t think I was speeding,” Raveena said, holding her information out to him.

  “Bad company,” he replied, his voice gruff.

  Before Raveena said anything, a needle plunged into her neck. Her body slumped against the door. Mara’s eyes widened, knowing who the man was under the hat. She tried to open the passenger door, but it wouldn’t move because of the automatic locks. She jerked the lock up and opened the door. The Officer came around the front of the car when Mara jumped out. Taking off on foot, she ran.

  Shift, her panther demanded.

  Mara let the panther loose, letting the shift take over her body. She didn’t run fast enough. The shift hadn’t been completed when she felt the darts from the Taser gun in the officer’s hand hit her. Her body jerked and spasmed with the voltage running through her. She fell to the ground and tried to roll over to her back. She got a clear view of his face from the ground.

  Sheriff Langley walked up to her with his sinister laugh. He had the Taser in one hand and a hypodermic needle in the other. He pulled the trigger, causing her body to spasm and stiffen. The shock rendered her helpless. Getting closer to her, he stopped the shock and stuck the needle into her neck. Not even her panther could save her now. The panther tried to emerge, but everything went dark.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Xeon sat around the table with the other alphas. Kale stayed outside on the phone with his wife, no doubt. With all the packs together, it would be foolish not to use the resources they had available.

  “Ethan, you have a guy that can dig around on the internet, right?” Xeon looked at the redhead.

  “Yeah, Jai is the best hacker I have,” Ethan confirmed.

  “Think you can get him to dig around in Dr. Phenix’s life?” Xeon asked. “The Sheriff told us about a warehouse the doctor owns. It’s where we found Zeke. I’m wondering if he has other properties. Maybe another warehouse or storage building. Anything big enough to keep a dozen or so shifters locked away. Hell, even an old barn would work if he had it set up correctly.”

  “Of course, he can find out just about anything.” Ethan leaned back in his chair and pulled out his phone. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah, go ahead and check for stuff in his wife’s or parents’ names. Anyone related to him that he might have access to. No way is he keeping everyone locked up in a van for days.”

  “I’ll have Jai jump on that now.” Ethan typed away on his phone. “Done, I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”

  “Thanks,” Xeon said.

  The front door of the meeting house opened, and Kale came back in. His face was full of worry. His skin was a little paler than it had been a few minutes ago. Ryder rushed in behind him and helped him into the closest chair. Xeon stood and went to the man’s side.

  “What’s wrong?” Xeon prayed nothing happened to Kale’s wife. But Kale didn’t answer him.

  “We think something may have happened to my sister,” Ryder spoke for his grandfather.

  “What are you talking about? She was at my place a little while before the meeting.” Xeon informed him.

  “Grams said she left not long after the meeting started, and she hasn’t come back yet,” Ryder told them.

  “We haven’t been here that long. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” At least, Xeon hoped she would be.

  “She went to your place and told Grams she would be right back, but she hasn’t returned.”

  “You know women,” Kyro joined in. “They’re probably talking up a storm.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about but I would feel better if we checked,” Xeon said. With everything that has been going on, he understood their concern. “All right, everyone. Once you have your men selected for the surveillance teams, let me know. We’ll work out a schedule and get all the places covered. It might not be a bad idea to send one over to the hospital now just in case the doctor finally shows up there and give my guy a break. Ethan, let me know the minute Jai finds anything.”

  One by one, everyone filed out of the meeting house. Xeon didn’t want think there would be anything to worry about, but he wanted to assure Kale that his granddaughter was safe. They didn’t wait for Kale to get in Ryder’s truck. Instead, they told him they would check it out. Xeon and Kyro jumped into the SUV and headed straight to Xeon’s house. They didn’t see Raveena’s car in the driveway. Kyro looked at Xeon with his eyebrow cocked up.

  “I don’t like this,” Kyro said when they pulled into the driveway.

  “Maybe we just missed her,” Xeon suggested, his worry starting to build.

  Once the SUV stopped, they both jumped out and rushed to the door. The front door was locked. Kyro knocked on the door, hoping Mara would open it for them. Quickly, Xeon pulled out his keys and unlocked it. They were met with silence. Their mate’s scent filled the air, but that didn’t mean she was there.

  “Mara,” Xeon called, rushing into the house.

  They searched each room and came up empty. Raveena and Mara were missing. Xeon’s heart pounded with fear, not knowing where his mate was. He opened the back door, thinking she may have found the pool and decided to jump in for a swim. With her being a shifter now, she’d be able to handle the water's colder temperature. They didn’t find her in the backyard, in the pool, or the hot tub. Frustration boiled up inside of him, and he let out a loud growl. He went back inside, slamming the door behind him. Panic set in.

  “Damn it!” Kyro shouted from the kitchen, yanking a piece of paper off the refrigerator. “Xeon, Kyro, don’t be mad. Raveena is taking me to see the bear. I’ll be back soon. XOXO.” Kyro read the note out loud.

  “She fucking left?” Xeon stormed toward Kyro.

  “Looks that way.” Kyro dropped the note down on the counter. “At least she’s with Raveena. Plus, they’re going to the bear compound and not traipsing all over the city.” He tried to be calm, even though his anxiety level just went through the roof. They couldn’t lose her now. What if that asshole tried something else?

  He told Kyro to lighten his mood, but it didn’t help. They warned her about Zeke’s raging bear. It wasn’t safe for her to go there.

  “But is it going to be the man or the bear she meets? We told her Zeke was dangerous. We still don’t know what kind of shape he’s in.” Xeon grabbed the note and looked at it. “Fuck, come on.”

  “You want me to call Raul and give him the heads up?” Kyro asked on their way out the door.

  “Yeah, tell him to keep them there until we get there. Hopefully, they won’t leave before he gets there himself.” Xeon would rather have Mara in his arms than chasing after her. He’d have to take his time with her tonight and remind her who the Alpha was.

  They were in the SUV in seconds. Kyro messaged Raul while Xeon cranked up the engine. Xeon jerked it in reverse and spun out of t
he driveway. Worry filled him, taking over his heart and squeezing it tightly.

  Why did she leave? They would have taken her over there when they knew it was safe. He was afraid Zeke would wake up and be enraged the second he looked at the medical ward, set up similar to a hospital. It wouldn’t surprise him if Zeke woke and instantly went into panic mode.

  “Hey, look.” Kyro pointed to a car parked on the side of the road ahead of them. “Is that Raveena’s car?”

  “Probably just looks like it.” Xeon couldn’t be sure from this distance.

  “That’s hers. See the hot pink license plate? I’m telling you that it’s hers. She probably ran out of gas. Raveena had always been bad about pushing the limits on her gas gauge,” Kyro said.

  “I don’t see anyone.” Xeon slowed when he passed the car. He knew for sure it was Raveena’s now that he got close. This didn’t bode well with him. He pulled off the road in front of the car.

  They jumped out of the SUV to check the car. The passenger door stood open, and the driver’s window was down. Kyro walked around and opened the driver’s door. He got in to look around. Xeon went around to the passenger side.

  “Still has a half a tank of gas. Raveena’s phone is still here. Her wallet is on the floorboard in front of her seat.” Kyro called out his findings.

  Xeon looked around the outside of the car. There weren’t many footprints around. The hard ground made prints hard to see. He made out one set of prints just outside the passenger door. His heart froze with fear. What if Dr. Phenix found her? What tortures did he plan on this time? Xeon’s fear quickly turned to anger. He growled on his walk around the car, looking for anything else that would help them.

  They spotted a set of tire tracks behind Raveena’s car. Looked like someone had spun their tires to get away quickly. It was too much of a coincidence that the tire marks lined up perfectly for someone parked behind the girls. He continued his walk around when something caught his attention under the car on the driver’s side.

  “Watch out,” Xeon bent down on his hands and knees.

  He reached under the car where Kyro sat. He collected the small squares of paper from the ground. When he stood up, he dusted off his knees and looked at the paper.

  “This is Raveena’s insurance and registration card,” Xeon told him nervously.

  Kyro looked in Raveena’s wallet for her driver’s license. Not finding it, he closed the wallet and tossed it in the passenger seat. Xeon leaned into the car to see if they found her ID. He spotted it between the door and the seat. There’s only one thing she would get all this out for. They both knew instantly that Sheriff Langley was dirty.

  “Fuck!” Xeon and Kyro said in unison.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mara woke up in a dark room, wearing a hospital gown, cold dirt against her back. There were a few dim lights placed on the walls, only illuminating a few feet around them. The pounding of heartbeats alerted her to others in the room. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. She saw much more than she should have been able to. She probably had the panther and vampire to thank for that. There were cages all around the one she was locked in, much like at the hospital, but this couldn’t be the hospital. Once again, she was in hell.

  “Son of a bitch!” She knew her gut told her not to trust the fucking sheriff.

  She glanced around the room. There were shifters in the cages. No way to distinguish their identities with them being in animal form. A hyena across from her could be Benny. A depressed gorilla lay in the next cage. He looked like he’d given up any hope of ever escaping. A bear stood on the end next to a white wolf. She hadn’t seen them before, but that didn’t mean they weren’t at the hospital.

  A man lay on the floor at the back of the room. He huddled up in the corner. Hopefully, he just slept. However, she didn’t see any wolves. The last time she was imprisoned, two angry wolves were in the cells. Did Dr. Phenix change them?

  She heard the loudest of all heartbeats in the cell next to her. Mara focused on the cage where a beautiful tiger lay on the dirt floor. It had to be Trina; she’d been a tiger last time she saw her.

  “Trina, is that you?” she asked the tiger. The magnificent animal raised its head and looked at her. “If that’s you, please shift for me. It would be nice to talk to you.”

  The tiger moved closer to the bars between them but didn’t shift. Mara reached her hand through the gap in the bars and ran her hand over the tiger’s soft fur. The tiger swayed, weak in the knees.

  Mara heard footsteps above them. The ceiling creaked with the weight of the person up there. Doors opened and closed nearby. Suddenly the lights flipped on. The illumination was bright enough to momentarily blind a person. Mara closed her eyes and let her eyes adjust to the brightness. When she opened her eyes, Dr. Phenix stood in front of her cage.

  “You thought you got away from me.” A sinister grin crept across his face.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Mara narrowed her eyes at the bastard.

  “Making history, of course.” His sinister look turned smug. “Imagine, if you were tired of the shifter within. I can change that. Think about it. A human can come to me wanting certain skills like running. I’ll work my magic and... poof, he’ll be a cheetah shifter.”

  “Do you think you’re God?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Oh, my dear, I think I surpassed that a long time ago.”

  “What? You’re going to open a shop now?” She couldn’t believe how arrogant the man before her was.

  “Not yet, I’m still in the collection stage. I found an alligator shifter in Louisiana. I think I’ll bring him in next week.”

  “I’m sure it will be against his will.” She definitely did not want to hear about him branching out and hunting shifters in other states. Mara wouldn’t let that happen. She just had to get out of the damn cage first.

  “I need a little more time to perfect the serum. The human body is so fragile. I’m having problems with human transformation.”

  “What are you talking about? Look at me! I’m a fucking science fair project.”

  “I thought I hit gold with you. I really did.” He shook his head. “Until your initial blood tests came back, and I found out you were so much more than human. I mean, what were the chances of me capturing a partial demon.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? I’m no demon.” She’d heard him say something about her being “more” the first night of her capture. Though at the time, she didn’t think much of it.

  “Maybe not a full-blooded demon, but it’s in your DNA. I can still use that. It’s why I chose to push the limits with you. I can’t wait to see what you’re capable of. Should I add another? I think you’re capable of holding so much more.” He tapped his chin with his index finger. “There are just too many possibilities.”

  Mara was too shocked by his declaration to yell at him. Could her family’s bad joke not be a joke at all. How could she be part demon and not even know? Why wouldn’t her parents tell her? Did they know, or did they want it to be a family joke too? Did one of her parents have a demon riding around in their head, or were they plain humans?

  “What happened to the humans you experimented on?” She knew he had abducted at least a couple in the last two months.

  “They expired after their transformation. I’m hoping your DNA will provide better results in humans.” He rubbed his hands together and looked around at the other shifters.

  “Fuck you and your results.” She brought his attention back to her. “You won’t be alive to experiment much longer.”

  “Like you can do much from in there.” He knocked on the bars of her cell.

  “You son of a bitch! I’ll get out,” she assured him.

  Wait, we grow, the panther told her.

  Need blood, another voice spoke. Mara recognized it as the vampire in the bunch.

  “It is not like I have a lot of options here,” Mara told the voices.

  “Glad you see
it my way.” Dr. Phenix nodded.

  The tiger in the next cell moved slowly. Orange and black fur receded, seeming to melt away into skin. Once the change was completed, Mara had confirmation Trina was in the cage next to her. Trina’s limp body lay motionless on the compacted dirt floor.

  “Ah, this one, I’m afraid, is at capacity.” He looked at Trina with a disappointed expression and shook his head.

  “What do you mean? Is she okay?” Mara watched Trina count her breaths.

  “Don’t concern yourself with her. All she will ever be is a tiger, maybe even a wolf again. Not sure.” He shrugged. “That’s what all these tests are for. It needs to be perfected with your DNA. I can make the human transformation hold.”

  She heard a scream from upstairs. Mara understood the scream all too well. She wanted to holler her head off to get someone’s attention. To get them some help.

  “Ah, my donor is awake. This was much easier in our facilities. Too bad you had to ruin that. Great things are happening.” He smiled and rocked on his feet.

  “You’re doing terrible things to good people.” When another scream sounded right above her, Mara jerked her eyes toward the ceiling.

  “There’s one of your good people now.”

  The woman screamed for help. Her voice sounded muffled, but Mara made out what she was saying. She recognized Raveena’s voice. Raveena screamed loud enough to wake the man in the corner cell. He rolled onto his back. The man looked pasty pale, cheeks sunken in. It looked like someone had sucked all the fluids from his body. He didn’t move much, only a few inches. Was that all their fates?

  “I’m glad you brought me another wolf. I played all I could with the other ones.” He glanced down at Trina.

  “I didn’t bring you shit,” she spat. Her hatred for him was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.

  Mara heard footsteps above them, and closing. The footsteps became louder the closer they came. Dr. Phenix must have found another lackey to do his bidding. A man came through a door. Of course, it wasn’t the man from the hospital. She’d taken care of him. This man looked more security guard than medical staff, dressed all in black. His T-shirt barely contained his muscular body. More footsteps sounded upstairs. Damn... there are more of them.